1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns improvements in and relating to assaying of waste, and particularly, but not exclusively for plutonium in radioactive waste materials in containers.
2. Present State of the Art
To enable safe and cost effective decisions to be taken on the storage, handling and disposal options for nuclear waste it is desirable to be able to characterise that waste through assaying. The lower the limit of detection that can be achieved in an assay, the less margin of uncertainty has to be built into the assay result and any decision taken upon it.
The reduction of the uncertainty applying to the assay of a container increases the number of containers which can be passed to lower grade storage facilities safely. This increases the life of the higher grade stores and reduces the capital costs involved in ensuring sufficient future storage capacity exists.